Ashes of Love Episode 1 Recap, Plot

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In the Floral Realm, on a cold, dewy night, the Floral Immortal Zi Fen lay in her chamber, surrounded by twenty-four kneeling Floral Leaders. Holding her newborn daughter, Zi Fen commanded that the child's birth remain a secret, threatening any who divulged it with the destruction of their soul. She then handed a special pill to Chief Peony, instructing her to administer it to the infant.

This was the Yun Elixir, which would ensure that anyone who took it would be incapable of love. Zi Fen explained that being "without love, one can be strong and be at peace," wishing her daughter would not suffer from deep love and regrets as she had. Her thoughts drifted to the Water God Luo Lin and Wind God Lin Xiu's wedding, where the Heavenly Emperor had proposed a betrothal between his first son and their future child.

Now, Zi Fen named her own daughter Jin Mi, hoping she would "find eternal peace in floral blossom and have a peaceful life like water and the clouds." Zi Fen then forbade the Floral Leaders from ever making Jin Mi the Floral Deity, desiring her to live as a carefree immortal. To ensure the Floral Realm would not be without a ruler, she decreed that the twenty-four Floral Leaders would take turns governing the seasons.

Foreseeing a "love tragedy" for Jin Mi within ten thousand years, Zi Fen placed a strict enchantment: Jin Mi was to remain confined within the Water Mirror for ten thousand years, "forbidden to leave" the Floral Realm. Soon after, the Floral Immortal passed away, and the entire Floral Realm mourned, with flowers perishing for ten years.

The narrative recounted that the Floral Realm had separated from the Heaven Realm four thousand years prior, becoming the sixth realm after Zi Fen's sorrowful death. Four thousand years later, Mr. Hu, a carrot fairy who had achieved immortality, was recounting the origins of the Six Realms to a group of young flower spirits. Jin Mi, however, was found asleep on a tree branch. Her friend, Lian Qiao, woke her, teasing her for always eating and sleeping.

Just then, Chief Peony arrived unexpectedly. She sternly tested Jin Mi's magic, criticizing her for her "weak spiritual power and poor fairy skill" after four millennia of cultivation. Jin Mi, still dreaming of exploring the world beyond their "fake water drop" barrier, had recently proposed leaving the Water Mirror to Chief Peony, which explained the Floral Leader's anger.

Chief Peony reminded Jin Mi that it was the anniversary of the past Floral Immortal's death and, as punishment for her idleness, ordered her to guard the Floral Immortal's Mausoleum after the worship ceremony. Every hundred years, the Water Mirror opened, allowing the less powerful flower spirits to pay their respects. During the ceremony, Chief Peony made Jin Mi kneel at the forefront, overriding the concerns of other Floral Leaders who felt it was against tradition.

As the ceremony concluded, a beautiful flower rain fell. Jin Mi was left alone under an immobilizing spell. Her friend, Lian Qiao, stayed for a while, empathizing with Jin Mi's discomfort, but eventually left. Jin Mi desperately tried to break free, but her attempts were futile. Suddenly, Yan You, also known as Lord Puchi, a water demon and Jin Mi's friend and benefactor from nine hundred years prior, appeared.

Jin Mi affectionately called him Lord Puchi, a name she preferred over Yan You, which she associated with a slug. Jin Mi offered him spiritual power she had diligently saved for a century as a repayment for his past kindness. Yan You playfully chided her for weakening herself. He then presented her with a succulent plant, revealing it was Rou Rou, Jin Mi's beloved friend who had perished nine hundred years ago.

Jin Mi confessed her guilt, lamenting, "If I had not taken her out of the Water Mirror, we would have not met Qiong Qi." Yan You suggested that Rou Rou might revive if they could find the Great Immortal, but warned Jin Mi that elves had no right to meet such a powerful being unless she cultivated to become a true fairy.

Meanwhile, in the Celestial Realm's Qiwu Palace, Fire Immortal Xu Feng was nearing the end of his forty-nine-day Nirvana. The Heavenly Empress strictly ordered Lord Liaoyuan to guard the palace, ensuring "no one should enter it without permission." Later that night, Night Immortal Run Yu, while arranging constellations at the Northern Heavenly Gate, encountered and fought a powerful, black-clad intruder heading towards Qiwu Palace.

He followed the attacker and urged Lord Liaoyuan to let him enter the palace to apprehend the culprit, fearing for Xu Feng's safety. However, Lord Liaoyuan, bound by the Empress's decree, refused entry to anyone, even Run Yu, despite acknowledging Run Yu's "deep friendship" with his brother. As Run Yu reluctantly departed, a brilliant column of fire erupted from Qiwu Palace, signaling Xu Feng's disappearance.

Alone at the Floral Immortal’s Mausoleum, Jin Mi saw a shooting star and wished to "meet the Great Immortal." Shortly after, she smelled something burnt and discovered a gravely injured bird, which she identified as a "crow" based on Mr. Hu's "The Six-Realms Species Encyclopedia." She initially tried to heal it by sprinkling spiritual water, a method she remembered from her own youth.

When this proved ineffective, and after feeding it her precious honey which had been sealed for five hundred years, she decided it would be "too wasteful to bury you as flower fertilizer." Believing it to be a powerful, enlightened crow, she decided to stew it, hoping to consume its "inner dan" to enhance her own spiritual power. Later finding the bird had transformed into a human male, she identified a "tumor" on his belly as the dan.

As she prepared to extract it, the man—Xu Feng—suddenly awoke. Startled, Jin Mi dropped her knife. Xu Feng demanded to know who she was. Jin Mi, asserting her status as a cultivating "fruit elf" and not a "little evil spirit," insisted he call her "my savior," as it was the noble tradition of the Water Mirror to "do good without leaving our name." When Xu Feng questioned her method of "saving" him with a knife, Jin Mi uncomfortably confirmed it.

She then tried to "remove his illness" (his inner dan), attempting to make him lie down, completely unaware of the impropriety. Xu Feng, realizing she was female, rebuked her for ignoring the "differences between male and female." Jin Mi, bewildered, replied that she only understood "differences between flowers, birds and animals," not male and female.

Xu Feng noticed a "magical hair clasp" in her hair and, attributing her ignorance to her youth and "uncivilized" upbringing, decided not to chastise her further. Jin Mi then offered him "worms" for lunch, assuming it was suitable fare for a crow. Annoyed, Xu Feng proved he was no mere crow by magically conjuring an elaborate golden robe. Jin Mi, marveling at his "fairy skills," innocently asked how many years it had taken him to achieve such transformations.

Episode 2 Recap